Friday, 30 January 2009

The Saturday we were in Cincinnati my friend Dana and her husband Adam threw an 80's party. I love dressing up and when the FABULOUS Nancy offered her services I couldn't say no. Nancy did my makeup and my bridesmaid's makeup at our wedding and is the owner of Brideface.

My makeup was inspired by the most truly, truly outrageous 80's girl there is, Jem:

Alison's makeup was for that 80's rich girl: defined cheeks and blue eyeshadow and NBH well, I guess he was a club kid. My man is secure in his masculinity, thank you!

Thursday, 29 January 2009

On Thursday NBH, Alie and I took a drive north on 75 to visit Bessala, also known as my maternal Grandmother. It's a 45 minute drive past the horrific hot tub Jesus, Trader's World and an awesome billboard that told us to "Never eat yellow snow & Never shake a baby."

We went to Bess' favorite O'Charley's and hung out in the fabulous Lincoln Park. There was actually a lot more snow on the ground in Dayton than there was in Cincinnati. Bess' favorite thing about her "grandson" NBH is how he is taller than her china cabinet.

That night back in Cincinnati we went to one of my favorite place, Pomidori's. Normally I go to the original restaurant in Clifton, but we went to the one in Montgomery which is closer to my Dad's house. They are known for their wood-fired pizza and of course we had apple pizza and it was sooooo good!

The next night after some shopping (where we found these scary things-- what are they?) and lunch at Don Pablo's I do what I always do when I'm home and had a bunch of friends over to my Dad's house.

Alie and Issac (Dana & Adam's son)

Allyson & I

Betsy, Liam, Laura & I

(Where's Liam? In Bets' belly)

Stevie & my Dad enjoying the Terrace Park directory a bit too much

The next day we went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa on the west-side. We brought with us Izzy's for lunch. There is no better corn beef sandwich on earth and their pickles and latkes are to die for!

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

One of the things we always try to do when we are stateside is catch a game. We were lucky that my friend Shaun got us 3 tickets for free to see my alma mater play Rutgers on Wednesday.

First we went and had dinner at Skyline with my friend Allyson and her son Parker. Here he is in simultaneously eating a Cheese Coney and roaring like a dinosaur. He is my favorite meshugga. For those who care, I had a 3way, half dry...yum!

NBH, my Dad and I were a little late to the game and the first half was pretty dire. No one on the team is really a standout from what I can tell, but second half they brought it around.

I got some good shots of a few free throws and in the end UC beat Rutgers.

Of course when they announced the cheerleaders would be performing their routine for Nationals after the game, I made my Dad and NBH wait around to watch. I felt really bad because almost everyone left, but I figured my parents came to games solely to watch me cheer so I could return the favor.

It was created by the founder of LoveFilm, which rents you DVDs through the mail. It's the same idea but with healthy snacks. For £2.99 a box you get fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts or other snacks delivered through the post to your desk or home.

You can select from a selection of boxes like "Pre Workout" "Low GI" "Weight Loss" or just rate what things you like and don't like and be surprised.

I got my first box today and it was so exciting (yea I'm a dork). It contained 4 of my 5 recommended fruit/veg a day! I had a punnet of fresh pineapple, some dried orchard fruits (pear, apple & cherry) and dried cranberries. I ate everything but the cranberries which I plan to sprinkle on my oatmeal tomorrow.

I'm planning on getting my boxes on Tues/Thurs and it works out to costing less than one daily trip to Starbucks. I'm in love. I feel like a celebrity getting my meals delivered to me (except it's snacks and I still have to do my own hair and makeup).

They gave me a code for friends to use and get their first box for only £1! So if you live in the UK, why not try grazing: PC9J1P2

Monday, 26 January 2009

Today is my first day back at work and I 100% not over jet lag. To make matters worse my bus on the way in had one of those annoying drivers who love to play with the hydraulics anytime the bus is stopped. So it bounces up and down not unlike this hoopty wagon.

He must have mastered his technique because it felt like the bus was hiccuping every few seconds. I don't know why, or care for that matter why they do it but all bus drivers should be made to ride on the top of a double decker early in the morning while another driver plays with the hydraulics at all stops. It's horrible and I don't see how more people don't puke.

I understand hydraulics are needed to lower the bus for the elderly and disabled to reach the curb easier, but why must they be used to pass time at a red light or traffic jam? I wanted to say something, but my only chance would have been walking off the bus and it seems pretty pointless by then. I guess I could always write a letter to the bus company, but blah.

Saturday, 24 January 2009

We left our flat at 4:15am on the 12th and flew from Glasgow to Amsterdam. We had a sizable layover, but we played cards, ate free cheese and watched some Conchords. Oh and a food court cashier made fun of me saying whatever:

Seriously he found it absolutely hilarious. Me, not so much because the coffee was gross.

Anyway we got on the plane and started to taxi, but then we had to turn back because a passenger was too sick to fly. NBH saw the guy run past with 6 barf bags. Getting him off the plane didn't take very long, but offloading his luggage did. So an hour later (and a little nap) we finally took off.

Flight was okay, food was a bit weird. KLM are apparently doing "Asian" inspired meals but as I said before much to the clerks delight, whatever.

I watched a lot of movies: Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist, StepBrothers & Baby Mama. I'd seen the latter before and just love me some Amy Poehler. Nick and Nora was cute and not your average teen rom-com. StepBrothers was really funny. It was dubbed a lot though so the cussing made no sense; "great Santa's suit" isn't an insult I've heard a lot. Anyway I especially loved this scene. NBH watched it before me and had guessed I would love this particular bit:

Yes this scene could possibly be played out in my hypothetical future family car trips; I'm sure that won't surprise anyone who knows me.

So back to the flight. We arrive and go through our separate customs lines (yes we are married but a) we have different last names and b) I'm not waiting in the johnny foreigner line when I can go get our bags) and NBH takes forever. It wasn't his fault, a flight from Qatar got in at the same time as ours so the screening was a bit heavy. By the time they got to NBH he got no hassle.

Bags took ages to come, but all arrived and then there was a massive line to get out of the baggage hall, again because all the Qatar people were getting their luggage searched. In the 15 years I have been flying transatlantically I have never had a line to get out of the baggage hall.

So we went and got our rental car. I don't remember what make it was (I'm a girl) but it was a purpley color SUV and I loved it. We drove from Dulles to Washington, PA only stopping for some pop once we hit Maryland and then some Taco Bell before the PA border. We spent the night at a hotel (jet lag meant an 8 hour drive was not an option) and then set back out the next day.

We started off our day the best way, with McDonald's breakfast.

They don't do biscuits in the UK, instead just english muffins and it's not the same. I'm also convinced US hashbrowns are longer. Anyway, with our arteries sufficiently clogged, we headed to some outlet malls nearby because I <3 br="br" malls.="malls." oulet="oulet">3>

The sales weren't that great, except for Banana Republic where we cleaned up. While we were there it started to snow.

There was snow on the ground already, but I was super happy it was actually snowing since that was pretty much all I said I wanted during the trip. NBH drove from PA to OH (I drove the first half) and we made really good time, only stopping once for gas and pop in St. Clairesville. I hoped my friend Lish would randomly be there, but she wasn't. I did however see the funniest billboard for vasectomy.com. Yes it exists. We also saw a billboard asking "If you died today, where would you spend ETERNITY?" Ahh Ohio, such great road signs. We arrived in Milford (just east of Cincinnati) around 3pm and hit up Frisch's Big Boy for lunch. You may have had a Big Boy platter before, but unless it was at a Frisch's it's not the same. It is ALL about the tartar sauce.

Okay this post was ridiculously long, but I guess that happens when you do this retrospectively.

Sunday, 11 January 2009

Tomorrow at the ass crack of dawn (4:15am) a cab is picking us up to take us to the airport. We'll be flying to DC via Amsterdam and then driving from DC to Cincinnati (with an overnight to allow for jetlag in PA).

So please excuse the dead air on my blog while we visit friends, family and Obama.

Thursday, 8 January 2009

Tonight I went to see a free sneak preview of "Bride Wars" with my Mother-in-law. It stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway as childhood best friends who've always dreamed of getting married. Their boyfriends propose within days of each other and they both choose the same wedding planner who accidentally books their weddings on the same day. When neither chooses to move their date, the war, so to speak, begins.

The movie was definitely cute and there were some laugh out loud funny spots (mostly from supporting characters). Personally I found it hard to believe that Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway were best friends, they had no chemistry. It could also be that because Kate Hudson isn't going to be winning an Oscar anytime soon if you catch my drift.

I'd recommend paying for a matinee ticket rather than full-price and I won't be adding it to my DVD rotation. I'll leave you with the preview, which has some minor spoilers and also contains a lot of stuff that isn't even in the movie- weird! If you go to see it, my favorite line from the movie was about butter. I won't reveal anymore :)

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

So you know those people who get paid to hold signs that generally have an arrow and say things like "Chicken Cottage 50 feet?" You may recall Brett from "Flight of the Conchords" getting a job holding signs to make ends meet. I always feel sorry for them because I think it must be a boring job.

Well today at the top of Buchanan Street (the main shopping street in Glasgow and also where my office is located) there was a guy with a sign that said "God this way." He also was shouting at the top of his lungs to come to the church for a lunch mass. There would be lots of people and praying and for only £3 you could get food.

I won't get into my religious beliefs here, but come on! I don't care what you believe, I don't think you should be screeching about your church while holding the same sort of sign the Chicken Cottage guy does. I wonder if he will be out there again tomorrow an exactly how many people go to church on their lunch break?

Monday, 5 January 2009

Today is my first day back at work since before the holidays and I've got a ton to do before we leave for the States in a week! To try and make myself do work instead of play online I've brought in the two CDs NBH got me for Christmas. While I'm fairly sure no one else got these two CDs in tandem, they are very me (as I'm sure anyone who knows me will agree):

I got less than 5 hours of sleep last night thanks to my holiday sleeping schedule of snoozing until noon and my gums are randomly bleeding, but hopefully the dulcet tones of Britney Jean and Axl will help me crunch numbers and create speculative budgets. Look for reviews later today...